Container device for dispensing measured portions

ABSTRACT

The invention provides an improved way to measure any dry goods product, to a specific amount required without using an external measuring device. The device includes an upper and lower chamber to help separate the dry goods product. Within the upper section of the chamber there is a holding chamber. This holding chamber will fill with the dry goods product at a specific measurement. By rotating the box from right side up to upside down, giving the box a few gentle shakes to fill the holding chamber, the dry goods exit out an opening at the end of a ramp along the upper chamber. No other portions of the dry goods can be poured out unless the holding chamber is filled again. The holding chamber of the upper section can be adjusted or changed to accommodate any measurement required. An inserted type upper chamber will work in the same manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to packaging containers for dry products, especially dried food products, such as uncooked forms of pasta, rice and cereal, and more particularly, to improve container device that may be operatively adapted to and integrate within a box package containing such dried food products to dispense a measured portion of the food products.

Many dry products in granulated form come packaged in boxes and require use in measured amounts that's the user is required to dispense. Such granulated products include cleaning and construction materials that are used in commercial and industrial applications and contained in boxes that are adapted to be opened so that the products may be poured from the box in portioned amounts and resealed if necessary. Dispensing measured portions of these granulated products can be very important and often critical to blending a proper mixture in which the granulated product is an essential part. Accordingly, a container device capable of providing the required measured portions of these granulated products to be dispensed by pouring would be most useful especially if such a device was integrated into the package structure or made to easily assemble thereto.

In the packaging of dried food products, especially those dried food products relatively small and varied in size, such as a uncooked pasta, rice and cereal, there has long been a strong emphasis on protection of the products from physical damage and from certain adverse effects of the ambient environment, particularly moisture and humidity, that can taint or spoil the package product when stored for an extended period of time after purchase and before consumption. The most common type unit package for the sale of these dried food products is the rectangular box or carton, found in assorted sizes, sometimes with sealed inner linings, to store and protect the packaged quantity of the dried food products until time of consumption.

The dispensing of specific amounts of these food products from their rectangular box containers has been generally tedious, the measured amount or unit portion desired by the consumer typically being poured or scooped directly from the container using a separate measuring cup or scoop. When required regularly, such as for consumer on controlled diets, the measures dispensing of these packaged food products using these independent means can be bothersome and sometimes difficult to do with repeated accuracy. For these consumers and other, such as the parents of small or infant children, the availability of a container with integrated means for dispensing a measured portion of the food product has substantial utility and is far more desirable than the handling of independent measuring instruments. While prior art containers have been devised and developed with internal measuring systems and been found generally satisfactory in delivering measured amounts of granular food products of small, relatively uniform shapes, they are somewhat complicated in their implementations and difficult to manipulate and generally been found effective only when incorporated in the fabrication of the original container package. Accordingly, there is a need for an improvement container device for the portioned dispensing of dry granular products as well as dried food products that can be easily implemented and handled and effectively used by the consumer whether incorporated in the original container package or adapted as an insert or attachment to the product container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a general purpose and object of the present invention to provide an improved container device for dispensing dry products in measured portions for the use or consumption.

A more particular object of the present invention is to provide an improved measured portion dispenser for dried food products, such as uncooked pasta, rice and cereal, packaged or stored in a box container that is capable of implementation and effective use as an integrated element of the box container or as a separate member connected thereto.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved container device for dispensing measured portions of a dried food product that is integrally formed and reliably effective in releasing measured amounts of the dried food product from the package.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved portion dispenser device for a packaged dried food product that may be easily assembled and connected to standard forms of package containers.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a container device for dispensing measured portions of dried food products that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to handle and use, and capable of dispensing a variety of different types and forms of dried food products.

Briefly, these and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by an improved container and associated device for dispensing measured portions of a dried food product, such as uncooked pasta, rice and cereal. The container device comprises a box container having a rectangular chamber and a dispenser opening and a specially adapted transverse member formed and disposed within the box container to separate the chamber into upper and lower chamber sections. The transverse member includes an aperture section in which an aperture is sized and shaped to permit passage of the food product from the lower to upper chamber section and a ramp-like section extending from the aperture section to guide the food product through the upper chamber section toward the dispenser opening. The aperture section is folded and inclined at an angle that projects into a corner sector of the upper chamber section so that a measured portion of the food product passing through the aperture is confined and held temporarily in the corner sector when the box container is rotated in a direction toward the corner sector approximately 135 degrees from the upright position and then delivered along the ramp-like section to the dispenser opening as the container is rotated further in the same direction.

For a better understanding of these and other aspects of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like references numerals and character designate like parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention, references in the detailed description set forth below shall be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view from one side of a measured portion container device made according to the present invention, with portions cut away to permit internal view of its construction.

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the present container device opposite to that of FIG. 1 with additional portions cut away to view its internal construction.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a blank used to form the transverse member of the present measured portion container device shown in an extended layout position.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the blank of the transverse member shown in FIG. 3 but with the longitudinal and lateral side flaps of the blank folded.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the container device shown in FIG. 1 with the immediate side wall of the container removed.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the present container device taken along the line 6-6 shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the present container device, as shown in FIG. 5, but further schematically representing dried food product contained in the lower section.

FIG. 8 is a rotated view of the container device shown in FIG. 7 illustrating movement of the dried food products therein pursuant to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is further rotated side view of the container device shown in FIG. 8 illustrating dispensing movement of the dried food products according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a separate embodiment of the present measured portion container device in a form adapted for insertion into an open box container shown in phantom outline.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following is a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the best presently contemplated mode of its production and practice. This description is further made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention but should not be taken in a limiting sense, the scope of the invention being best determined by reference to the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, the following is a list of the associated parts and working elements of the present container device, generally designated 10, which are employed in accordance with the present invention:

-   10 container device -   11 box member -   12 bottom wall -   14 top wall -   16 front wall -   18 back wall -   20 side walls -   22 front opening -   24 transverse divider member -   26 aperture section -   27 transverse section aperture -   28 ramp section -   29 extended ramp panel -   30 extended longitudinal flap -   32 front lateral flap -   34 longitudinal aperture flap -   35 middle panel -   36 short longitudinal flap -   38 rear lateral flap -   40 container insert -   42 front insert wall -   43 front opening -   44 back insert wall -   46 side insert walls -   48 top insert walls -   50 insert rim -   P dried food product -   M measured product portion -   O open box

Having said that, it is apparent that the described invention provides an improved container device for dispensing dry products in measured portions required for the use or consumption, especially effective for dispensing dried food products, such as uncooked pasta, rice and cereal, in measured portions from a box container. More particularly, the described container device provides an improved measured portion dispenser for dried food products packaged or stored in a box container that is easy to implement and effective in use as an integrated element of the box container or as a separate member connected thereto. Incorporated into the structure of a container package used to hold dried food products, the present invention provides a dispenser device that is integrally formed and reliably effective in dispensing measured amounts of the dried food product from the package. In a separate construction, the present invention provides an improved device that is easy to assemble and insert into open forms of package containers for dispensing measured portions of dried food products. In addition, the present container device provides a portion dispenser for dried food products that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to handle and use, and capable of dispensing a variety of different types and forms of dried food products.

Obviously, other embodiments and modifications of the present invention will readily come to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the forgoing description and drawings. Alternate embodiments of different shapes and sizes, as well as substitutions on known materials or those materials which may be developed at a future time to perform the same function as the present described embodiment are therefore considered to be part of the present invention. For example, the insert embodiment of the container device shown in FIG. 10 may be made of a rigid and relatively durable material, such as a plastic, in order to be reusable. Accordingly, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiment described, but rather is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as expressed in the appended claims. 

What is claimed:
 1. A container device for dispensing a measured portion of dried food product, comprising: a box container having a rectangular chamber and a dispenser opening formed therein and a transverse member disposed within the box container to separate the chamber into upper and lower chamber sections, said transverse member including an aperture section with an aperture therein sized and shaped to permit passage of the food product from the lower to upper chamber section and a ramp-like section extending from the aperture section to guide the food product through the upper chamber section toward the dispenser opening. 